Review: The Killer Next Door – Alex Marwood

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Everyone who lives at 23 Beulah Grove has a secret. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be renting rooms in a dodgy old building for cash—no credit check, no lease. It’s the kind of place you end up when you you’ve run out of other options. The six residents mostly keep to themselves, but one unbearably hot summer night, a terrible accident pushes them into an uneasy alliance. What they don’t know is that one of them is a killer. He’s already chosen his next victim, and he’ll do anything to protect his secret.

Let me start off by saying,

I LOVE IT. I LOVE THE PLOT. I LOVE THE ENDING. I LOVE THE TITLE. Sweet jelly bean, the title.

Sure, it was bit confusing, and I actually had to read the last chapter three times just to wrap my head around what happened but I LOVE IT. Through and through.

My first reaction was, “ooh, I’m reading something in British English. I might like this one.” The characters were a bit confusing in the beginning and it might actually take you a while to realize who is who but once you’ve known them, it’s easy. The change in the point of views were not that smooth – mostly because they usually start with a pronoun so it’s vague – but after a few sentences, you’ll realize whose point of view is it.

I love the thrill of looking for who “The lover” was – who is he?! – but I figured it out by the middle of the story so when all hell broke loose and “the lover” was revealed, it didn’t shocked me. At. All. But who cares? There was the undeniable thrill at the beginning.

And I love Collete and Hossein! Like, so love them. And Cher is very sweet. I am torn between “isn’t she too young for this?” And “At least she has all the time in the world to experience better things. She’d deserve everything!” And Vesta. The backbone of the story. She’s such a lovely one. I love her and her tea sets. I love them. And by the way, even though I love cats I didn’t like Psycho that much. I don’t know why.

I love everything except that it is sort of dead. No adrenaline rush that comes from action scenes. There was just not enough action happening.

Overall, this book is fantastic! I love it. It can use a few improvements on the way of writing here and there but this one’s is just really good! It’s the kind of book you can read regardless of what’s happening in your life. Okay, there’s not much of funny stuff and definitely not urban fantasy nor dystopian but there’s the slice of life – serious and carefree at the same time, how people are in all walks of life, all the unsaid secrets around you, sparks of romance, sadness, just the good amount of gore and grossness, and the thrill of mystery. And speaking of mystery, where is Hossein in the Post script?!

4 stars! Fantastic read! Recommending it anytime to anyone because I know I would pick it up as soon as I read the title.

Reneth

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